Hey guys. After snooping around on other Sandstorm servers I have come across some features they are using which might help enhance the gameplay on our own server. They way they do this is by using the SISSM server companion which I believe we already have on our server (it's used to show the periodic "rule" messages in chat). But there are a few more plugins we could try out. Here are the main ones I thought might be worth considering:
Command-Line Admin - allows admins to make gameplay changes on the fly using commands in the in-game chat. This includes modifying the number of enemy bots, changing the difficulty, and enable/disable the killfeed or friendly-fire. All without restarting the server or even interrupting the current round. Might help spice things up if we're finding the gameplay too easy, or tone things down when we want to chill out.
TAC-NO-MIC - adds chat shortcuts to help players who don't have/use their microphones for any reason. It allows them to engage in more technical playstyles. The messages are things like "I'll cover you" or "The objective is clear" etc, list of defaults is shown at the link but these are configurable.
Anti-Rush - complex method to stop players rushing through the map. It allows you to "lock" objectives to prevent early capture, auto-kick players who don't get off the point for too long or destroy caches too soon. Lots of flexibility in the configuration (timings etc) and you can enable/disable the system entirely during the game using the Command-Line Admin tool. It can be a little overbearing when everyone is already on the same page and communicating well (hence you can switch it off easily) but it does help rein in the pubbies.
What do you guys think? If there is interest I can explore adding these to our server. Ofc any other feedback or suggestions always welcome
Couple of useful tools there for definite. The anti rush being my fave. Is it like a forcefield of energy that if you go too far you are vapourised?
"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.."
@Projectblue it can be! Generally the way I see it used is the default, where on each objective you get a cumulative grace-period timer of ~12s. Basically you can spend no more than that time on the objective while it is "locked" or you get kicked. The timer only resets when the objective is captured, so you can't just duck out and back in to get around the kick. If you set that timer to 0s you could effectively have a forcefield which nukes anyone who touches the objective early
"If you set that timer to 0s you could effectively have a forcefield which nukes anyone who touches the objective early"
hahaha - That's awesome.
"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.."
